Spirit week was rockin'!

We started a new read aloud and all the kids are totally into it. We are reading The Indian in the Cupboard. Some of the kids have seen the movie, (Uggh, Hollywood) but it has not detracted us. It is also my first time reading the book which makes the whole experience really exciting. We will be doing more activities around the book in an effort to help students learn to respond to books.

Jonathon (Claire's dad) came in this week and did a cool project with the kids and crystals. Luckily, he didn't taste borox like me when the Ks and I did our crystal experiment. The older kids really enjoyed making the crystals. Thanks Jonathon!

Phina rocked Science Friday and did a wonderful demonstration of how gravity works and how weight does not necessarily mean that something will fall faster to the ground. Almost everyone was involved in the lesson and only one person, Sebastian, made an accurate hypothesis about which object would fall to the ground first. She also showed how wind resistance can slow an object down.

POETRY is the name of our game these days with writing. We have been reading Shel Silverstein in class and discussing different forms of poetry. We are trying to create a book of poetry and have a reading before break. The reading will likely be the 20th or 21st at a place yet to be determined. If you have any poetry at home please choose to read it a home too an encourage your student to write a poem about a topic they enjoy.

Many kids were excited this week when we reinstituted quiet reading time in the class. Sometimes there is so much going on at Trillium that students never really get a chance to just chill with a book. I think that we all enjoyed the time and it will continue.

Students are also busily working to prepare for Performance Night this Friday. We can't wait to see all them in action. Seating will start at 6:15 so that we can get started right at 6:30.

By the way, thanks for all the encouragement with the gender switch day. It was surprisingly nice to wear a dress. Although the cat calls got a little old.

I will try to have more pictures and would love to get more student writing on the blog. I need parent helpers to transcribe student stories and writing if anyone has the time.

Finally, if anyone has some old records laying around their house we could really use them this week by Wednesday. They will be used for an art project this week. Also, I am going to put a bin out for caps. Later in the year I want to do a cap art project and it would be nice to have a variety by the time that comes. It will be near the front of the room this week.

Thanks for being so supportive and helpful. Your kids are awesome!